Freed Serial Killer

[Steve Miller]

I wouldn't exactly say I was harrassed either. I mean, what's the chance of two metallic blue Geo Prizms being in the same general area at 4:30am in the morning? When one of them had been involved in a robbery committed by a single white male, it only makes sense to stop the white male who is driving a metallic blue Geo Prizm.



As for the example of the fellow who got punched... that just came out of the blue? I guess things like that happen in small town Bolovia, but that sort of behavior doesn't resemble any police officers I know, and I've been around them my whole life, socially and in work capacity.

[Blackpaws]

The fact is that I have no desire or intention of putting myself in the "criminals'" shoes, whether it be actual criminals or just someone who likes to dress up like a punk or a gang-banger.

Clothing has nothing to do with how a person acts, or if they are a criminal or not. I'm simply hoping you were refering to the fashion police.

The far right way of thinking that people who dress differently are up to no good really needs to stop. It does nothing but alienate people in this country even further.

[AdamGarou]

Police officers are just like the rest of us. They'd vastly prefer to get through their day without confronting someone who's a bastard. Why make their day harder?

BTW, I've been where you are as far as being detained because I was mistaken for someone else (or, in my case, my car). I cooperated with the police, they cleared the situation up, they apologized for the delay, and I was was on my way. I suppose I COULD have been an idiot and refused to show ID or get out of the car... but since I had nothing to hide, why behave as if I did?

A slightly less direct illustration of this--that is, that police officers prefer to get through their day without confronting someone who's a b*****d--happened to me about two years ago.

My then-girlfriend and I were driving down to Florida to spend some time with her family at the beach, and we were on the road late because I'd had to work late that day. Anyway, we were driving through northern Florida (the panhandle) at about 11:30 p.m., and we were given the flashing lights as the signal to pull over.

Since it was a fairly well-lit and populated area, I did so, rolling down the window and placing both my hands on the steering wheel in plain view. The officer approached the vehicle with his flashlight in one hand and his other hand on his gun. After he took in the scene, he asked to see my license and registration, which I got out slowly and carefully and gave to him.

He took a look and said he'd pulled me over for running a traffic light (which I don't think I did, but that's beside the point). Then he asked why I'd put both hands on the steering wheel when he came up to the car.

"So you'd know where my hands were," I replied.

"I understand that--but how did you know to do that?" he asked.

"Because my sister and brother-in-law used to live next door to a police officer, and he told them it was a good idea--lets the other cop know you don't intend to be a danger to them."

He appeared to think it over for a moment or two, then handed me back my license and registration. "He was right," he said. "Just be more careful."

And off we went--no ticket, no written warning, and barely ten minutes' delay.